1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a connector assembly for printed circuit and more particularly, to a connector assembly for printed circuit applicable to both of a flexible printed circuit and a hard printed circuit arranged in a connector receiving portion.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 8 shows a connector 1 for a flexible printed circuit (hereinafter "FPC") 6. The connector 1 has a rectangular connector housing 2 with a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers 3 (only one chamber is shown in FIG. 8) each having an electric terminal 5 with an elastically contacting piece 4 therein. The connector 1 is received in a connector receiving portion 7 provided with the FPC 6.
An opening portion 8 is formed on the terminal accommodating chamber 3 on the side of a wall of the connector receiving portion 7 provided with the FPC 6, and the elastically contacting piece 4 projects from the opening portion 8 by a predetermined amount.
And, an opening 9 is formed at the rear end of the terminal accommodating chamber 3, and the electric terminal 5 is accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber 3.
The electric terminal 5 is made of a conductive metal and consists of an electrical contact portion 10 with the elastically contacting piece 4 and a wire connecting portion 12 to which an electric wire 11 is to be connected. A contacting portion 13 to project from the opening portion 8 is formed on the elastically contacting piece 4 in the midway of a part turning up from an end portion thereof toward the wire connecting portion 12.
The connector receiving portion 7 is formed by denting an equipment casing 14 so as to receive the connector housing 2. On the FPC 6 arranged on the connector receiving portion 7, a plurality of strip-like flat-terminal portions (not shown) to be put into contact with the contacting portions 13 of the respective electric terminals 5 are provided. Upon insertion of the connector 1 into the connector receiving portion 7, the elastically contacting piece 4 bends, while being in contact with the flat-terminal portion (not shown) and pushing the flat-terminal portion with necessary resilience, and thereby electrical connection is made.
On the other hand, FIG. 9 shows a card-edge connector 15 for a hard printed circuit 20. The card-edge connector 15 consists of a rectangular connector housing 16 having a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers 17,17' (each one chamber is shown in FIG. 9) divided into two layers and electric terminals 19, each having an elastically contacting piece 18, to be inserted into the respective terminal accommodating chambers 17,17'. The card-edge connector 15 is received in the connector receiving portion 21 provided centrally with a hard printed circuit (a wiring board; hereinafter "HPC") 20.
In the center of the connector housing 16 and between the terminal accommodating chambers 17,17', a space 22 for receiving the HPC 20 is provided. The terminal accommodating chambers 17,17' are provided with respective opening portions 23,23' to communicate with the space 22.
The electric terminal 19 is made of a conductive metal and consists of an electrical contact portion 24 with the elastically contacting piece 18 and a wire connecting portion 26 to which an electric wire 25 is to be connected. A contacting portion 27 to project from each of the opening portions 23,23' is formed on the elastically contacting piece 18 in the midway of a part turning up from an end portion thereof toward the wire connecting portion 26.
The connector receiving portion 21 is formed by denting an equipment casing 28 so as to receive the connector housing 16. A plurality of strip-like flat-terminal portions (not shown) to be put between the elastically contacting pieces 18 and to be put into contact with the contacting portions 27 are provided on the front and back sides of the HPC 20.
Upon insertion of the card-edge connector 15 into the connector receiving portion 21, the elastically contacting piece 18 bends, while being in contact with the flat-terminal portion (not shown) of the HPC 20 and pushing the flat-terminal portion with necessary resilience, and thereby electrical connection is made.
With respect to the above conventional structures, the connector 1 in FIG. 8 and the card-edge connector 15 in FIG. 9 each are used as an exclusive use connector.
In the production spot, however, increase of such exclusive connectors makes parts, molding form or the like more complicated.
Also, an electronic parts (not shown) or the like are mounted on the HPC 20. In case of connecting the HPC 20 to the FPC 6 with, for example, only a wiring function, the electric wire 25 connected to the card-edge connector 15 and the electric wire 11 connected to the connector 1 have to be directly connected between the card-edge connector 15 and the connector 1. This connection needs a lot of parts and therefore is one of factors increasing a production cost.